To Coffee or Not To Coffee??

That is the question...


I have been sick since Friday.  Awful.  Even today, I had half a voice all day.  It really stinks.

HOWEVER:  Being sick has it's perks.  I'm off coffee (no pun intended....OK, it was intended).  

I remember I never really liked coffee all that much (at least in highschool I didn't...I would try to have some on the weekend with my parents, but it never really phased me).  But my senior year of highschool, a friend came over one night and be brought me a coffee:  A small french vanilla iced coffee "Extra/Extra" from Dunkin Donuts.  That year, I started drinking more coffee.  It was always the same - French Vanilla Iced Coffee, Extra Cream, Extra Sugar.  (On a side note, maybe that's why I started gaining weight???).  From then on, I started shaping my coffee intake and what I actually liked.  

I eventually "grew out" of my Extra/Extra phase and graduated to just cream and sugar.  And then Milk and Sugar.  And then Skim Milk and Sugar.  And then Skim Milk and Splenda.  And then, because I hate skim milk so much, I settled on Milk and Splenda.

I have had a coffee just about every morning since College (a coffee usually being a medium either iced or hot....And usually only 1 per day).  I feel like I could have joined Coffee Drinkers Anonymous, but I would have had to bring my dad with me, as he drinks Pots per day (not just cups per day).  I drank so much iced coffee in college that I was able to collect 2 sets (not just 1 set) of the Red Sox 2004 World Champion Cups...I had extra cups that didn't make a complete set of the 3 cups....Please don't think that I only drank 6 iced coffees :o)

In any case, I got to the point where if I didn't have a cup of coffee, I would get a raging headache. I've always considered going off coffee, but the couple of times that I did it, I got such a headache, that I couldn't bear the pain and gave back in to the coffee.

Well, as I said, I've been sick all week this week.  Huge cold, potential sinus infection (that seemed to go away relatively quickly) and a cough.  In any case, while I was sick, I had absolutely no desire whatsoever to drink coffee (let alone make a pot of coffee).  Instead, I moved over to tea....I figured the absence of milk and the super hotness of the tea would be good in clearing my head.  The only kind of tea I had in the house (besides flavored tea, which I don't like, so I don't know why I have them) is decaf tea.  So I basically went cold turkey.  If I did have a reaction to not having the coffee, the pressure in my head from being sick seemed to outweigh the pain in my head from lack of coffee.

Go ahead, make fun of my Hogwarts Mug.  I know you're just jealous!!

Impressed?  I am.

So, after going about 10 years with a cup of coffee a day, I managed to go cold turkey onto decaf tea (I realize there is some caffeine in "decaf tea," but I know it's a lot less than in a regular coffee - see below).  I have to say, I like drinking tea.  It reminds me of the days when I was young and I would sit at the kitchen table and have tea with my mom, sister, Nonni, and Auntie Ginny.  I remember how my aunt always liked her tea weak, and I used to load mine up with sugar and milk.  I even had a tea party as a birthday party one year!!!  Every time I pour a cup of tea, I let it steep, and then use the paper wrapper to squeeze the excess water out of the bag.  And I think back on my childhood.  Kind of funny that a simple cup of tea will do that....It's probably healthier, too!  :o)


At the end of the day, the answer would be, Not To Coffee!!


A little comparison (from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211):

Coffee
Type of coffee	Size*	Caffeine**
Espresso, restaurant-style	1 oz. (30 mL)	40-75 mg
Espresso, restaurant-style, decaffeinated	1 oz. (30 mL)	0-15 mg
Generic brewed	8 oz. (240 mL)	95-200 mg
Generic brewed, decaffeinated	8 oz. (240 mL)	2-12 mg
Generic instant	8 oz. (240 mL)	27-173 mg
Generic instant, decaffeinated	8 oz. (240 mL)	2-12 mg
McDonald's brewed	16 oz. (480 mL)	100 mg
McDonald's Mocha Frappe	16 oz. (480 mL)	125 mg
Starbucks Latte	16 oz. (480 mL)	150 mg
Starbucks Pike Place brewed	16 oz. (480 mL)	330 mg
Starbucks Pike Place brewed, decaffeinated	16 oz. (480 mL)	25 mg
Tea
Type of tea	Size*	Caffeine**
Brewed tea
Black tea	8 oz. (240 mL)	14-61 mg
Black tea, decaffeinated	8 oz. (240 mL)	0-12 mg
Green tea	8 oz. (240 mL)	24-40 mg
Iced tea
AriZona Iced Tea, lemon-flavored	8 oz. (240 mL)	11 mg
Generic instant, unsweetened	8 oz. (240 mL)	26 mg
Lipton Brisk Lemon Iced Tea	8 oz. (240 mL)	5-7 mg

25 Random Facts

Here are a number of facts about me, the first two (which I won't count to the 25) are that I stole this idea from that "25 Random Facts" of Facebook that went Viral in 2008/2009.  I'm going to try to state a number of things that I didn't say back then!

1. I have to go to Rochester on September 19-22 for Work.  I've never been to Rochester before.
2. I love baking.  I'm sure you've seen this from previous blog entries.
3. I'm not a fan of cleaning, but I can't stand my house to be dirty.  It always seems to be messy.....
4. My husband and I have gotten into bike riding.  I love it and wish I did it more often.
5. I live in a condo, and can't wait to move out.
6. I want to build a house on at least 1+ acres in Barrington.  I hope I'm able to do that one day.
7. I have a love-hate relationship with caffeine.  To little = headache, too much = headache.
8. I don't understand the fascination with the word "pasta."  Growing up, it was either macaroni or spaghetti.  Pasta was just if you made it by hand....
9. I watched "Inglourious Basterds" the other day for the first time.  I loved it, and will definitely watch it again.
10. I love all movies made by Mel Brooks.
11. I tore my PCL 5 months before my wedding (on Christmas Eve).  It still hurts when I try to run.
12. My sister is getting married in June and I am the MOH.  Techinically I'm the "Matron" of Honor.  I hate the word Matron...It sounds so old.
13. I am newly obsessed with the 2004 Movie "The Phantom of the Opera."  I saw it at PPAC in Middle School, and it scared the crap out of me.  I have a new found love for the music.
14. I love dirty Martinis.  With 3 olives. 
15. I went to the ENT because I've been having a lot of issues with my ears.  Apparently I have arthritis in my jaw and it affects my ears.  I can't eat bagels or chew gum.
16. I don't like being taken advantage of, and I don't like being lied to.  
17. Hockey is my favorite sport.  Football is my second favorite.
18. I am transitioning into a new job.  I will soon be an individual contributor again.  I can't wait.
19. I get frustrated very easily.  I need to remember to take more big breaths.
20. We had a huge hurricane (Hurricane Irene) over the weekend that a lot of people didn't take seriously.  They actually reclassified it to a "Tropical Storm" but there are still areas that don't have power.
21. It should usually take me 45 minutes to drive to work.  Lately it's been taking almost an hour because of construction on Rte 44.  They're supposed to be doing this construction until Spring 2012.  JOY.
22. I have been trying to lose weight.  I have thus far lost 14 lbs on Weight Watchers.  I need to exercise more in order to boost the weight loss.  I get distracted easily.
23. I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with.  I hardly use any of them.
24. I have a facebook account, but I'm very upset with the new privacy settings.  You can now tag people in your posts and pictures, even if they're not your friends.  That doesn't seem very private to me!
25. I love Mexican Food.  And I love drinking Margaritas and Sangria with my Mexican Food.